Sean Price’s Imperius Rex, which is newly out this week, is quite the fitting farewell to the late MC. I’ve got to admit, though, that I thought the album version of “Negus” featuring Ike Eyez and DOOM was ab it awkward. I was really looking forward to hearing DOOM and P on this one, but Eyez’ verse smack in the middle broke up the chemistry in a way that just didn’t make sense. Sean and DOOM are more than enough of an event together for there to be another verse. The song is also being released as part of DOOM and Adult Swim’s The Missing Notebook Rhymes project, and this version is short an MC.

Aspiring rappers used to rap over tried and true classic instrumentals in order to pay dues and show off their skills. In that spirit, Maliibu Miitch has apparently put a 2017 spin on that with a whole series of videos paying homage to female MCs like Lauryn Hill (“Doo Wop”), Eve (“Who’s That Girl”), Foxy Brown (“Gotta Get You Home With Me”), and Li’l Kim on this one. If you remember the “Crush On You” video, it was an event: wigs, furs, and all kinds of sass. Maliibu Mitch keeps the sass and tones it down for her own minimalist vibe here in her own version of “Crush On You”. I don’t know how old she is, but I’m feeling like NYC circa 1996 right now and that’s always a good thing, as long as the result doesn’t sound dated. I’ll definitely be looking out for more of her work in the near future.

Producer Wes Wax enlisted The Last Artful Dodgr and JUICEBOX three years ago for this jazzy banger. Wax also has some pretty dope music over on Soundcloud, so be sure to show your support over there, because it won’t be possible to find little gems like this if they’re not on your favorite streaming services. #SaveSoundcloud

Days in advance of his post-humous Imperius Rex release (one of the best album titles ever if you know the science), we get Sean Price along with the late Prodigy and Styles P over a minimalist Harry Fraud track. If you were looking for something to Nae Nae to, this is not it, fam. Pre-order the album and cop other merchandise over at Duck Down.

In a recent interview with Complex about Andre 3000’s relatively new position as creative director for Tretorn, the interviewer naturally meandered into some questions about the future of 3-Stacks’ rapping career. To the disappointment of many, it doesn’t look good for a brand new OutKast album, let alone a solo LP. He went on to describe rap as more of a “hobby” for him right now, preferring the occasional guest feature to the effort and time it takes to put together an album. However, there was a particular tangent he went on about aging in hip-hop that didn’t quite make sense and which Complex chose to highlight in the subtitle, though the interview is seemingly intended to focus on his career in fashion design.

On the idea of rapping into his later years, Andre 3000 had this to say:

“Rapping is like being a boxer,” André continues. “No matter how great you are or were at a certain time, the older you get, the slower you get—I don’t care who you are. And I can feel that coming on. There’s always a new wave of artists, and sometimes I’m just like, ‘I’m good. I’ll let the young guys do it.’”

How does one go about dropping a major rap album in the crater left by Jay-Z’s recent master-work, 4:44? If you’re Tyler The Creator, you drop a whole other animal entirely, but one that’s similarly brief (at 46 minutes), but with a lot to unpack. Flower Boy is Tyler The Creator’s fourth album and, just to get right to it, a project that will probably mark a pivotal moment in his career, as it’s sure to have people checking for him who weren’t before.

I had to take a beat when I noticed the above shirt in my Instagram feed. I made an active decision to ignore both it and the very disturbing comments section under it. The issuer then reposted the shirt with the following message regarding the previous post:

In the details section of the item page, the company has written the following:

“Designed in response to the senseless killings of people of color BY people of color.” – @ServedFreshLive

DJ Shadow teams up with Danny Brown for another joint off of the DJ’s brand new The Mountain Has Fallen EP, which also features “Systematic” with Nas, that ice-cold surprise banger featured at the end of this past season of Silicon Valley‘s premiere.